Geography at UNC Chapel Hill

The Department of Geography at UNC-Chapel Hill brings a
unique perspective to the study of some of our world’s most pressing concerns.
With a dedicated community of scholars, staff, and students, we are committed
to the highest standards of research, teaching, and public engagement. Our
faculty maintains collaborations in all regions of the globe, and we draw upon
these collaborations to contribute to better education and innovation amongst
our students and the state of North Carolina. As educators, we embrace the UNC
vision for improving our society through teaching, learning, and public
service.

Geography at Carolina is consistently ranked in the top 50
geography departments in the world in various World University Ranking
exercises, but our real successes can be judged by the broader impact of our
research and teaching. We addresses issues of importance to local and state
communities, as well as broader dynamics of regional, national and global significance.
Our faculty expertise crosses fields of physical and human geography, with
world-renowned research in areas as diverse as watershed ecology, climatology, medical
geography, remote sensing and visualization, conservation and agriculture, globalization
and political economy, and feminist and postcolonial theory. Our students, both
undergraduate and graduate, contribute to the department through research,
scholarship, and student organization.

Undergraduate students are able to develop a focused area of study in environmental geography, human-social geography, or geographic information science. Many participate in faculty research projects, study abroad programs, and exchange and joint degree programs with our partner universities such as those at the National University of Singapore and Kings College University of London. After graduation geographers typically go on to work in professions dealing with environmental management, urban and regional development, land-use planning, GIS and mapping, and teaching.

Graduate students concentrate their studies in one or two of five overlapping themes: